Junior guard Peyton Siva has scored a game-best eight points to help the No. 19-ranked Louisville Cardinals to a 24-22 halftime lead over No. 2 Syracuse Orange in a Big East Conference men's basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
Louisville (20-5, 8-4 Big East) jumped out to a seven point lead, 12-5, just 8:16 into the game after Siva nailed a 3-pointer. However, Syracuse's defense stiffened and its offense slowly helped the Orange crawl back into the game.
Syracuse took its first lead when sophomore center Fab Melo received a transition pass from senior point guard Scoop Jardine and slammed it home to make it 18-17 with 2:40 remaining.
However, Louisville regained the lead when junior forward Jared Swopshire hit a floater over Melo, and then pushed it lead to four points, 24-20, after a 3-pointer by senior Chris Smith.
Syracuse sophomore guard Dion Waiters, who netted five points, made a layup as the first-half horn sounded. Sophomore forward C.J. Fair tallied a team-best seven points, while Melo finished with four points and three rebounds.
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